It’s a short week in Westminster, with the Commons sitting for just two days and the Lords already on Easter recess. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer will face the Liaison Committee, while Chancellor Rachel Reeves answers questions in the Chamber – both will face MPs’ questions for the first time since Donald Trump’s tariff announcement. Deputy PM Angela Rayner will be questioned on the work of her department, and Wes Streeting will be grilled by the Health Select Committee on plans to abolish NHS England. Select Committees will also examine the Seventh Carbon Budget and the state of local government finances.
Remember, parliamentary business can change at short notice so always double-check the Order Paper on the relevant day if you are interested in a particular item of business.
Questions and statements: At 14:30, Housing, Communities and Local Government Ministers, including the Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, will respond to MPs’ questions. Topics include new towns, sustainable homes, housebuilding in London, homelessness, the social rented sector, local consultations, victims of domestic abuse, and town centres.
Any Urgent Questions or Ministerial Statements will follow.
Main business: There will be two general debates:
Road maintenance: On 24 March, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander issued a written statement announcing increased funding for local highway authorities in the upcoming financial year to tackle what she called the “pothole plague”. Additionally, she confirmed a £4.8 billion interim settlement for National Highways to support the maintenance of the strategic road network during the same period.
Neighbourhood policing and tackling town centre crime: Measures to tackle this issue are addressed in the Crime and Policing Bill currently going through Parliament (see the Legislative Committees section on Tuesday below). The Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, also announced new funding for neighbourhood policing in January.
Adjournment: The Labour MP Michael Payne has the adjournment debate, on local authorities and economic growth in the East Midlands.
Westminster Hall: No debates have been scheduled for Westminster Hall.
Legislative committees: No legislative committee meetings have been scheduled.
Highlights include:
House of Commons
Environmental Audit Committee (14:15): The Chief Executive and the Chair of the Climate Change Committee (CCC) will give evidence on the Seventh Carbon Budget. Under the Climate Change Act 2008, for a series of five-year periods the Government must propose legally binding limits on carbon emissions – known as carbon budgets – designed to steer the UK toward its target of net zero emissions by 2050. The Seventh Carbon Budget will cover emissions from 2038 to 2042. The CCC is a statutory body established under the 2008 Act to advise the Government on its emissions targets and report to Parliament on the Government’s progress. In February, the CCC published its statutory report on the appropriate level for the Seventh Carbon Budget. Last month, the Chair of the Environmental Audit Committee, Toby Perkins MP, appeared on our Hansard Society Parliament Matters podcast to discuss how Parliament ought to scrutinise the Seventh Carbon Budget, given that in 2021 the Sixth Carbon Budget Order was debated by MPs for just 17 minutes. His predecessor as Chair of the Committee, Philip Dunne, also wrote a blogpost for us about how Parliament should handle this new Carbon Budget and why it matters.
Public Accounts Committee (15:30): The Permanent Secretary and other senior civil servants from the Department for Business and Trade will give evidence on the work of the Department. The Committee has indicated that topics will include the Post Office Horizon Redress Scheme, COVID financial guarantees, and support for priority industry sectors.
Details of Tuesday’s business can be found below.
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Questions and statements: At 11:30, Treasury Ministers, including the Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves, will face questions from MPs. Questions on the Order Paper concern tax evasion, the Spending Review, taxes on second homes, inheritance tax on agricultural property, foreign investment, transport infrastructure, the National Wealth Fund, support for pensioners with the cost of living, and proposals for a wealth tax. A question on the expected impact of US tariffs on UK growth will enable other MPs to ask supplementary questions on the same topic. The Mother of the House, Diane Abbott MP, has a question on support for low-income individuals following the Spring Statement.
Any Urgent Questions or Ministerial Statements will follow.
Ten Minute Rule Motion: The Labour MP Polly Billington will introduce a Ten Minute Rule Bill titled the Energy (Social Tariff) Bill. The Bill would require energy companies to provide social tariffs for low-income customers. See our Hansard Society guide for more information about the parliamentary procedure for Ten Minute Rule Bills.
Main business: There will be a general debate on whether Blair Mayne, a British Army officer from Northern Ireland who served in the Second World War, should be posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross (VC). Lieutenant Colonel Robert Blair Mayne, to give him his full title, was a founding member of the Special Air Service whose exploits are depicted in the BBC drama SAS Rogue Heroes. He was one of the army's most decorated officers during the Second World War, having been awarded the Distinguished Service Order and Three Bars. He was recommended for the VC in 1945, but the honour was controversially downgraded in Whitehall. This debate was proposed by the Democratic Unionist Party MP Jim Shannon. His application to the Backbench Business Committee was supported by all Northern Ireland’s sitting MPs.
MPs will then take part in a general debate on “matters to be raised before the forthcoming adjournment”. This debate – which typically takes place before the House rises for an extended recess – gives MPs the opportunity to raise any issues of their choosing, often focusing on local or constituency matters.
Adjournment: The Conservative MP Joy Morrissey has the adjournment debate, on hospice funding. (House of Commons Library briefing)
Westminster Hall: There are five debates, on:
the persecution of Christians (House of Commons Library briefing);
the impact of congenital hyperinsulinism on patients and their families;
the impact of fly-tipping on communities in the West Midlands (House of Commons Library briefing);
Government preparations for the radio teleswitch service switch-off in Scotland; and
court waiting times in Kent.
Legislative committees:
Public Bill Committee meeting today: Crime and Policing Bill. The Committee has so far worked through the first 31 clauses of the Bill, which cover issues in relation to anti-social behaviour, offensive weapons, retail crime, and child criminal exploitation. The next clauses and amendments the Committee will debate – beginning with clause 32 – cover the following topics: a proposed new criminal offence of cuckooing (where criminals take over someone’s home to facilitate illegal activity); provisions relating to child sexual abuse, including the proposed new legal duty to report it; and the management of sex offenders, particularly around name changes and monitoring. The debate is likely to cover a series of Government amendments aimed at preventing the use of the statutory defence of being a victim of slavery or trafficking with respect to the new child sexual abuse offences introduced by the Bill. The amendments are outlined in a letter from the Government to the members of the Public Bill Committee. Conservative amendments are also expected to feature, including proposals to create a new aggravating factor for group-based sexual offences, increasing sentencing severity; to impose a fine of up to £2,500 on sex offenders who fail to notify police of a name change or prolonged absence from their main residence; and to impose an unlimited fine on sex offenders who do not inform police before entering a premises where children are present.
Highlights include:
House of Commons
Liaison Committee (14:30): Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer MP will appear before the Committee, which comprises the chairs of all House of Commons select committees and is itself chaired by Dame Meg Hillier MP, Chair of the Treasury Committee. One of the Liaison Committee’s key roles is to question the Prime Minister on government policy – something it typically does three times a year. For this session, 11 committee chairs have been selected to ask questions across three key themes:
Growth: Ruth Cadbury (Transport), Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (Public Accounts), Bill Esterson (Energy Security and Net Zero), Patricia Ferguson (Scottish Affairs), and Chi Onwurah (Science, Innovation and Technology).
International Affairs and Defence: Tonia Antoniazzi (Northern Ireland Affairs), Sarah Champion (International Development), Tan Dhesi (Defence), and Chi Onwurah (Science, Innovation and Technology).
Welfare Reforms and Health: Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (Public Accounts), Layla Moran (Health and Social Care), Sarah Owen (Women and Equalities), and Jamie Stone (Petitions).
Education Committee (10:00): The Committee will hear evidence on higher education and funding from a range of sector experts and stakeholders, including Research England, Universities UK, the Universities and Colleges Employers Association, the Russell Group, the Association for Modern Universities, the National Union of Students, and the University and College Union. The Committee will also hear from Sir Philip Augar, who chaired the 2019 review into post-18 education and funding.
Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee (10:00): Gareth Davies, the Comptroller and Auditor General and head of the National Audit Office (NAO), will give evidence on the funding and sustainability of local government finance. In November, the NAO took the unprecedented step of disclaiming the Whole of Government Accounts – a formal statement that it could not provide assurance over the accuracy of the figures. This was largely due to major delays in council audits and a resulting lack of reliable financial information from the local government sector.
Health and Social Care Committee (11:30): Wes Streeting MP, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Sir Chris Whitty, Chief Medical Officer and Interim Permanent Secretary at the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), and Sir Jim Mackey, the Chief Executive of NHS England, will give evidence on the Government’s plans to abolish NHS England and merge it with the Department of Health and Social Care. The Committee says it will use the hearing to follow up on concerns raised by health sector leaders during a recent evidence session, particularly around the implications of the proposed merger and its potential impact on the delivery and accountability of NHS services.
Justice Committee (14:30): Courts Minister Sarah Sackman MP and senior Ministry of Justice officials will give evidence on the work of the County Court, focusing on long-standing capacity issues and backlogs.
A full list of select committee hearings can be found on the What’s On section of the Parliament website.
Both Houses will return from the Easter break on Tuesday 22 April. The next edition of this Bulletin will therefore be published on Easter bank holiday Monday 21 April.
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